Castlevania Dominus Collection

[h1]Old Gems, New Enlightenment[/h1] Metroidvania has been my favorite sub-genre of games for many years. Even since my first experience with Hollow Knight back in June 2017, I've been lost in the rabbit hole of this particular type of action platformer. Yet when I look back, I realize that I have never played any games from the Metroid series and the Castlevania series. I may know some references metroidvanias are inspired by thanks to the internet. I never experience them myself. So, in preparation for the upcoming new mainline Castlevania, I try the Dominus Collection, and surprisingly, I have a blast playing it through. The three games in this collection may share the same theme and design philosophy. The small twists in gameplay help them stand out from each other. Obviously, these three games suffer from the problems they're born with, but it is still a fun experience, and I highly recommend this collection to anyone who wants to grasp the inspiration behind half of the metroidvania. [h2]Things I Like About Castlevania Dominus Collection:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Save/Load Whenever And Wherever You Like:[/b] This feature is a godsend. Being able to manually save and load files anytime and anywhere you like greatly alleviates the frustration of early game designs. It cuts down on a lot of wasted time so you can get back into the fight as soon as possible. No longer do you have to wait for tons of slow, unskippable animations just to load you back to the save point. No longer can a single mistake cause you a great deal of progress. This design easily makes this collection approachable. [*][b]Clever Split-screen:[/b] From what I've learned, these three games were originally on NDS and had a split-screen feature—one for gameplay and one for the map. In the Dominus Collection, the developers integrate the two screens together. The main gameplay takes up two-thirds of the screen while the map occupies half of what's left. The developers then fill the rest of the screen with character stats and enemy info. This is a wonderful decision. Not only can I see how exactly the status effects work on me and how "leveling up" actually affects my stats, but I can also learn more about the enemies' potential drops and their affinity bonuses. The latter is especially important since these three games revolve heavily around exploiting physical and elemental weaknesses. [*][b]The Enlightenment:[/b] Before playing the Dominus Collection, I wasn't a fan of the single-direction attacks and the affinity counterplay. I had some experience with them in a few metroidvanias, but the restrictive movement puts me off. Naturally, I did not have high hope going into this collection since the three games all feature the same, aforementioned ideas. Things take a turn, and now I understand the genius behind the deliberately rigid design. Giving each weapons and spells possessing obvious pros and cons actually makes me more invested in collecting them. The classic "rock-paper-scissor" gameplay offers a good opportunity to experiment and actively switch up your equipment on the go. This way you become more knowledgeable in your arsenal and begin to appreciate what each piece of equipment brings to the table. Are enemies constantly above you? Throwing axe is your best friend! Do big enemies stand in your way? Use spells that can multi-hit to melt them swiftly! Do bosses hit too hard up close? Just use throwing knives and low-cost spells to chip them away from a distance. [*][b]The "Stand-out" Differences:[/b] Other than the amazing soundtracks, each game also offers different things on the table. Dawn Of Sorrow (DoS for short) is probably the closest one to what we refer to as "modern metroidvania"—interconnected maps, clear gating abilities, and some interesting twists of its own. Plus, I believe this game shares more similarities with Ritual Of Night than the other two (all three of them are the forefathers of that game). Order Of Ecclesia (OoE for short) offers an interesting spell-slinging mechanic in which you have two dedicated buttons for spells, and you can alternate between them to rapid-cast. I have the most fun experimenting with a variety of spell combos and what their ultimates may be. Surprisingly, Portraits Of Ruins (PoR for short) is my favorite out of the three. It has two protagonists. The potential of having two different characters is immaculate. You can customize their gears individually to take full advantage of the affinity counterplay for both physical and elemental. You can switch between them or even summon the other to fight alongside you at any time. There are a few fun puzzles that require you to juggle between them, and the "Talk" button gives you insights for the two after some key moments. [/list] [h2]Things I Dislike About Castlevania Dominus Collection:[/h2] [list] [*][b]Products Of Their Time:[/b] While the goods remain mostly unscathed, the flaws, however, never stand a chance against the testament of time. All three games feature a horrible luck-based loot system with very little means for you to alter the chance. You can try to farm an item or soul from one monster for hours and still get nothing. This is especially annoying for DoS since the good ending requires you to get three specific souls to unlock a secret boss fight. The levels in these games are rather simple, with only a handful of them having some obstacle course. Levels in OoE and PoR especially feel disjointed due to the world-traveling system, with OoE being the worst since that game reuses the same exact layout several times. OoE also has the worst runback out of the three, and both OoE and PoR have their gating abilities stuck in spell form. I am more than happy to see that we have since moved on from "most" of these outdated designs. [/list] [b]中文小簡評[/b] 拜《空洞騎士》所賜，類銀河系惡魔城一直都是我最喜歡的動作跳台遊戲子類別之一，不過現今回想起來，我好像從來沒有親自體驗過過任何一款《銀河戰士》或《惡魔城》系列的作品。有鑑於十月將推出的《惡魔城》正統續作，夏特特地買了《惡魔城統治者合輯》來體驗一下做準備，本來以為會被亙古的設計給勸退，殊不知把玩片刻不只被他們深深吸引，就連原本的成見也煙消雲散，轉化成全新的賞識與體悟。合輯中三款的主旨和設計理念相同，但玩法上的些微改變讓它們各具特色，雖然年代上的老毛病依舊清晰可見，但整體來說還是款非常棒的合輯，強烈推薦給其他和我一樣的類銀河系惡魔城同好。 [b]喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]隨隨時地存檔讀檔的設計真的是太親民了，大幅降低早期遊戲設計帶來的挫折感，讓你能快速跳過冗長的死亡畫面，即時讀檔返回戰場，也能避免因為一些小失誤而失去大量遊戲進度。 [*]由於是從NDS上移植到PC，製作團隊將兩個螢幕整合在一起，遊戲畫面佔螢幕的三分之二，地圖佔剩下的一半，最後剩餘的空間則用來顯示主角數值和敵人資訊，這項設計非常棒，不僅能清楚明白升級與異常效果對你的影響，還能看到敵人可能掉落物及屬性弱點，後者尤其重要，畢竟這三款遊戲的核心玩法都圍繞著根據敵人屬性弱點換裝。 [*]一開始我對這種硬性的屬性相剋和單一方向攻擊很感冒，非常不喜歡這種動作受限、綁手綁腳的感覺，但是玩完合輯後徹底改觀，如此刻意而為的設計是有它的奧妙，所有武器和法術都有分明的優缺點，需要彼此相輔相成才能獲得最大功效，這也促使你必須對背包裡所有利器都有一定程度的了解，適時切換對的武器應對才是上策，而非一昧地依賴同一把武器打到底。 [*]《惡魔城 蒼月十字架》應該是最符合我所認知的「近代類銀河系惡魔城」：擁有完整相聯的地圖、清晰的關鍵技能、及有趣獨特的機制，這款也是我覺得和《血咒之城 暗夜儀式》最相近的作品。 [*]《惡魔城 被奪走的刻印》有個非常簡單卻很好玩連擊機制，你有兩個武器格可裝，輪流連續按兩個相對應的攻擊鍵可以迅速施法，幾乎所有法術都能互相搭配打出不錯的連擊，第一次覺得兩把弓箭同時輪射這麼好玩。 [*]《惡魔城 迷宮迴廊》是三款中我最喜歡的一代，雙主角的設定讓你能輕鬆搭配出專精物理與魔法的配裝，隨時切換角色應對，你也能召喚另一個角色和你並肩作戰，關卡中也有許多兩人同時並行才能解開的謎題，平時還能透過「對話」了解遊戲機制及角色心境。 [*]更別提三款的配樂都非常好聽。 [*]合輯附帶完整的公式書與美術設計。 [/list] [b]不喜歡的點[/b] [list] [*]可惜三款的缺點依舊經不起時間考驗，不過我很慶幸現在的遊戲已經擺脫大部分過時的設計了。 [*]三款都有非常糟的刷怪機制，依照角色「運氣」決定怪掉道具或靈魂的機率，重點是能增加這項數值的道具少之又少，可能同一隻怪刷好幾個小時都不見得能打到一點東西，其中《蒼月十字架》特別惱人，畢竟這款的好結局需要你解鎖三隻不同怪的靈魂才能到達隱藏王所在地。 [*]《被奪走的刻印》關卡設計算是最糟的，同一個地形不只重複利用好幾次，關卡也幾乎毫無變化，地圖也因為地點傳送的設計而顯得破碎，更別提那吝嗇的存檔點，無疑是三款中走回頭走最累的一款。 [*]《迷宮迴廊》也有上述的缺點(但有些微的進步)，但是關鍵技能跟一般法術混合再一起變得很麻煩，常常需要你遇到一個坎換法術度過後再換回你常用的攻擊法術，畫面切來切去挺麻煩。另外兩款也有一樣的問題，但至少它們有多的欄位可以裝，不像《迷宮迴廊》只有兩格而已。 [/list] [quote=author]If you like what I write, please consider a follow to [url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]my curator[/url] page, thanks! 如果你喜歡我寫的東西，可以追蹤[url=https://store.steampowered.com/curator/45738167/]我的鑑賞家[/url]喔！[/quote]